Post-Dổi Mới

Vietnamese Art After the 1990s is the subtitle of this exhibition currently showing in Singapore. It comes as a good addition to the very big one currently showing at the Asian Civilisations Museum (Việt Nam! From Myth To Modernity). I am yet to see the latter but the former is an amazing eye opener on how vibrant the modern and contemporary Vietnamese Art scene is. It is a primer on the country's artistic development since the Dổi Mới (Renovation) policy of 1986 began to open Vietnam's economy. The exhibition dates from the year the first commercial gallery opened in Hanoi since the communists gained power. Many of the artists grew up during the war against the U.S., often relocated to the countryside for safety. Like their counterparts in China, the artists often explore the effects of the rapid economic expansion that has swept the country - the contrasts between the old and new, the change in people's attitudes, the rise of consumerism. I particularly enjoyed the stunning installation from Vuong Van Thao "Living Fossils" in which the artist has replicated old houses from Hanoi in stoneware and then encased them in transparent resin. The 36 houses are laid out in a street scene along with 36 resin-encased metal poles with loudspeakers from which public messages would have been broadcast throughout the day in the '80s.